A provocative, unsponsored assessment of current and future legal, regulatory, marketplace, and cultural issues affecting telecommunications and information policy presented by Rob Frieden, Pioneers Chair and Professor of Telecommunications and Law, Penn State University

Monday, February 21, 2011

The FCC and NTIA have launched a broadband map that purports to give quite granular and current data about broadband accessibility. Don't count on realistic statistics. See Broadband Map

The casual reader won't catch the use of advertised, maximum speeds. When, if ever, will the FCC and NTIA start to plug in real, measured speeds?

The casual reader also may not quibble about the reported, advertised speeds. When the site reports 50-100 megabits per second, as it does for my location, would not a reader infer a speed somewhere probably midway between the two poles? Comcast offers a $99.99 plus, plus Extreme 50 Plan for downlink speeds "up to" 50 megabits per second. So why not bump that platinum plan up to the NEXT rate band? And let's forget about how many people actually subscribe to this level of service, if really available.

At first glance, the FCC and NTIA, are overstating reality. This reminds me that there are lies, damn lies and broadband statistics.

About Me

Rob Frieden serves as Pioneers Chair and Professor of Telecommunications and Law at Penn State University.He also provides legal, management and market forecasting consultancy services and has written four books, most recently Winning the Silicon Sweepstakes: Can the United States Compete in Global Telecommunications published by Yale University Press. Rob has written over one hundred articles in law reviews and telecommunications policy journals and has provided commentary in a variety of trade periodicals. He updates a major communications treatise: All About Cable and Broadband (Law Journal Press).

Rob has held senior policy making positions in international telecommunications at the United States Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.In the private sector, he practiced law in Washington, D.C., and served as Assistant General Counsel at PTAT System, Inc. where he handled corporate, transactional and regulatory issues for the nation's first private undersea fiber optic cable company. Professor Frieden holds a B.A., with distinction, from the University of Pennsylvania (1977) and a J.D. from the University of Virginia (1980).